East Palestine village leaders requests more from DOJ settlement

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - The Village of East Palestine is raising some issues about the $310 million settlement proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The settlement designates some of that money for cleanup, health monitoring and long term environmental monitoring but some village leaders say it's not going to be enough.
In a letter dated July 31, 2024 to the DOJ, Village Manger Chad Edwards lays out five ways they believe the settlement falls short in addressing the long-term needs of the community.
First, they want more than the original $25 million offer to run a 15-year physical and mental health monitoring program. The letter states that figures the village received from the East Liverpool City Hospital led them to believe they will need a “significant increase in funding” to run the program that long but does not specify a certain amount.
Second, they want more health testing including blood count and urinalysis testing for residents. The letter states these tests are an “essential part of the puzzle discovering symptoms and diseases” because these tests follow kidney function and “toxins and chemicals are filtered through the kidneys.”
Third, the village wants medical treatments covered. If diseases do come up that were caused by the derailment they want Norfolk Southern to pay to treat them - not village residents.
Fourth, the village wants to put a centralized medical monitoring system in place across all facilities to track everyone’s reported symptoms. Without it they claim “it will be impossible to detect larger health patterns and chronic conditions.”
“This isn't a short term incident this is a long term incident and we have to look at those long term possibilities,” Keith Drabick, the Chief of the East Palestine Fire Department who fully supports the letter said.
Lastly, the village asks the DOJ to ensure water testing in the future for municipal and private well water.
The village's Water and Wastewater Superintendent Scott Wolfe said the municipal water is being tested every month and nothing alarming has been found but he wants to keep testing to make sure it stays that way.
“God willing, we hope that nothing ever does come to fruition from contamination but you just don't know so the best way to monitor that is by sampling,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe added if something were to come up in that sampling, they want the settlement to make sure Norfolk Southern pays for remediation.
“The village would just like to see something to ensure the safety and security of our residents,” Chief Drabick said. “If something is found related to this incident that they can be taken care of.”
A judge will review all of the comments submitted for the settlement. A date on when a final decision will be made has not been announced.
The full letter can be found here.